


The Dual Blade Wielder: RE

by CloudyLightning



Category: Sword Art Online, Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Aincrad (Sword Art Online), Gen, and Kirito himself doesn't even know it exsits, everyone just ends up joining the Kirito protection squad, glitchy programs, major character illness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:35:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26167261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudyLightning/pseuds/CloudyLightning
Summary: After an accident that left him frail, he could only wish and dream of being able to walk in places he wanted to go. Thanks to a certain game developer, he was given a VRMMORPG that granted his wish. Sword Art Online. (A Rewrite Version of The Dual Blade Wielder)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 80





	1. the return's welcome tutorial

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite/revamped version of The Dual Blade Wielder. No need to read the original, as it will be different now, but if you want the general idea as to what's going on and what to expect- feel free to read the original. I first wrote it in high school- and it's been a long ride before I stopped for several years. I finally went back and had rewritten the entirety of it for the sake of my own sanity. A lot of the events hadn't changed, but rather, been rewritten to make it less- awkward and yeah.
> 
> So, to both new and old readers - Enjoy!

"All right… everything seems to be all good, and battery's all charged," his sister muttered under her breath. She stood to her feet and turned to look at him, "All set up, Onii-chan?"

There wasn't a verbal answer, only a quiet nod and a light smile. The Nerve Gear felt heavy on his lap as he sat on the edge of the bed. He did his best to stay focused, even though he felt the strong urge to throw up. There was a promise he had to keep, and he wasn't planning on backing out.

His sister, on the other hand, was hesitant, "You look tired... maybe you should login tomorrow. You'd be better rested then."

He couldn't help but huff a laugh. His sister was too considerate, and observant. Instead, he raised his hands, " _It will only be a few hours. I will be okay. You should go. Practice is soon."_

His sister didn't look convinced, but she nodded anyway, "Alright, I'll trust you. I'll be home around five, so remember to log out by then," she said as she gave him a quick hug.

He nodded to show that he heard and waved as she left his room. His door was left open, a precaution he didn't mind, and waited until the front door closed with his sister's usual "I'm heading out!"

Quietly, he placed the Nerve Gear to the side and twisted his body to pull himself onto his bed. It was a bit difficult, since one leg refused to move, but he managed to get close enough to his window. He watched his little sister turn the corner of their street and out of sight.

The house was quiet. His mother was at work. His father was on a business trip last he knew. It was just him and the empty house for a couple of hours.

He took his time to settle himself on his back with the Nerve Gear on his head. His leg ached, and the nausea wouldn't go away, but it didn't dampen his excitement. He took a glance at the clock on the HUD and smiled.

12:58.

He trailed his gaze away from the time to the stuffed golden lion that rested next to him. The artificial fur was soft despite the years he had it. It kept him company in times like this. He picked at the sown nose and waited patiently.

His eyes dropped closed and the Nerve Gear beeped. There was a tiny smile on his lips as he whispered two words.

"Link Start!"

._._._._._.

Dark eyes blinked open, and a young man clenched his hands. An easy smile spread across his face and he almost laughed.

"It feels nice to be back," he muttered under his breath as he moved his hands. He took a moment to tap the tip of his boots to the ground, and stretched his arms. It felt great to move around again.

He turned on his heel and disappeared into the flood of new players. He slipped past the players adjusting to their surroundings and hurried through the shops, only grabbing what he needed. There were only a few hours that he could spend here, so he wasted no time to head to the gates.

"Hey!" called a voice behind him, "Wait up!"

He slowed to a stop and turned around. Another player with red hair and a matching bandana caught up to him.

"You were a beta tester, right? Mind if you could help me out? I'm new with all this Nerve Gear thing. Can you help me with the basics? I'm Klein! Nice to meet ya."

The player, Klein, held his hand out in greeting. The young man couldn't help but pause for a moment, a bit overwhelmed at the sudden greeting— if was one. He almost raised his hands to speak, but he remembered at the last second that he didn't need to.

"…Hmm, alright," he started quietly. He didn't dare to return the gesture. Instead, he nodded his head politely and placed a hand on his chest, "I'm Kirito. It's nice to meet you, too."

._._._._._.

Kirito had to admit, watching someone fighting for the first time was pretty amusing. Vaguely, he wondered if this was how he seemed like when he first started out. It took a couple hours, since Kirito never expected to go that in-depth with explaining how the system worked with the basics. Thankfully, Klein was able to catch on, and finally preform a sword skill after several hours.

He really should've logged out already, but the idea of leaving Klein hanging didn't sit well with him.

"Yes! I finally beat it!" Klein yelled as he did a victory fist bump.

"Not bad for a first time, but keep in mind that's how all the monsters are," Kirito clapped his hands from his place on the ground. He was close enough to advise, but far enough from the battle. He felt a little dizzy, but he didn't say anything.

Klein laughed as he sat next to him, "And here I thought it was a boss! Still— I can't believe we're in a game. It feels so real."

Kirito hummed in agreement, "It's really amazing. Is this your first time in Full Dive?"

"Yup," Klein replied, "I got the Nerve Gear after getting the game. I got really lucky. You must've had a ton of luck to be a beta player— only a thousand got it, right?"

Kirito debated whether he should be honest or not, but he settled with a half truth, "Yeah, just a thousand. I was…lucky enough to be able to try it out. This game can be very fun at times."

"Oh! Then do you want to meet my friends? We can team up and conquer some dungeons together," Klein offered.

Kirito said nothing, but the sudden stiffness of his posture and slight frown on his face gave his answer away. He wasn't sure if he was ready for something like that.

Klein seemed to catch on as he stood up. He held out a hand to Kirito, "Maybe some other time then?"

There was a small smile on Kirito's face as he took Klein's hand to help him up, "Some other time, but thank you. I'm just… not that good with people."

"I should be thanking you for helping me out, Kirito. So, thanks," Klein said, placing hand on his hip, "Well, I gotta go— My pizza's going to be here by 5:30."

Kirito's eyes flew open and he glanced at the time.

5:26.

"Ah-hhh— I gotta go, too," Kirito nearly spluttered as he opened his menu, "Twenty-six minutes ago."

Klein raised an eyebrow as he opened his menu too, "Strict parents?"

That brought a light grin on Kirito's face, "More like a concerned sister."

He quickly tapped the screen, moving by pure habit, only to tap on an empty box. He paused.

"Hey, uhhh, Kirito? Where's the LOG OUT button?"

The nausea that he ignored started to creep back, and he pressed a hand on his chest. It wasn't his real body, but it helped keep some of his panic at bay. Kirito closed and reopened his menu. He gone through his usual steps and frowned, "It… it was right here."

"I'm calling the GM, but he's not answering," Klein said, then he looked up and frowned, "You okay? You look a little pale."

Kirito closed his menu and strained a smile through clenched teeth.

"I'm fine. Just—"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence when his world suddenly tipped and white filled his vision. He felt a hand grab his arm and the last thing he heard was Klein cursing loudly.

._._._._._.

She ran and ran and ran. The news rang so loudly in her head, over and over that it wouldn't stop.

Two hundred and thirteen players were dead, and over nine thousand were trapped inside Sword Art Online— the very game her brother dove into.

She had left her kendo practice just as she was— fully dressed in her gear and cell phone gripped tightly in her hand. She was glad she had half the mind to grab her house keys before she left. Fumbling with the lock, she managed to enter the gate and slip through the door. The house was deathly silent as she ran up the stairs. The open room hid nothing from her.

Her brother laid peacefully on his bed, but he was already logged in.

She staggered into his room and reached for him, but her hands hovered uncertainly. The NerveGear sat innocently, wrapped around her brother and trapped him in that death game.

A death game _she_ helped him prepare for.

She was conflicted between screaming or crying at the thought.

Her brother was already so short on time—

"Suguha!" Her mother's voice pulled her back to reality. Suguha blinked, and her mother was beside her, running a hand through her hair.

"Mom—" she breathed, but she couldn't find the words.

Her mother gently brushed away the tears from Suguha's eyes and pulled her close for a hug, "I know. I know."

._._._._._.

When Kirito opened his eyes to a crowded plaza, he knew that something was wrong.

Something was terribly wrong.

He tried to voice his concern to Klein, but he couldn't— not when the ceiling above them bled into crimson, and a figure melded into shape.

_"My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and I am currently the only person able to control this world."_

The figure, Aki-nii—no, _Kayaba_ — continued to talk.

Kirito stood in quiet horror as the words washed over him. He couldn't say anything when the real features of Sword Art Online were enabled. He gripped his elbows tightly as he heard the current death toll. He bit his lips hard enough to prevent himself from forgetting where he was as he saw footage of the world outside. He needed to ground himself because he just— _couldn't believe this happened._

He nearly cried when the mirror in his hands changed his tall, heroic avatar into the small, frail teenager he really was: almost deathly pale skin, and thin bones that could hardly lift anything. He had to reassure Klein more than once that _yes_ , he was still the same Kirito he met.

_But he shouldn't have had too._

It was then that they both realized that this was more than a gift that Kayaba had left the players. It was a knife that stabbed reality into everyone's heart.

This— this was _real._

No one screamed, no one even cried when Kayaba's dark, hooded figure melted back into the ceiling with an amused note.

_"I wish every player the best of luck."_

Then someone screamed.

The whole plaza exploded with thousands of other players joining in.

Kirito did all he could to stop himself from clamping his hands over his ears to block out the noise. It scared him into action.

He immediately snatched Klein's wrist and tugged him, "We need to go!"

Klein could only nod as he stumbled after him. Their pace picked up into a full sprint, eager to get away from the terrifying screams. At some point, Klein had managed to pull ahead of him, and Kirito forced them to stop in an empty alleyway.

"Klein, we need to leave for the next town. If we don't, the entire area will be flooded with the other players," Kirito stated, quickly opening his menu to double check the map, "The two of us should be able to make it."

"Just us?" Klein frowned as he shook his head, "I can't— I still have friends out there, and I'm pretty damn sure that they're scared right now. I can't just leave them behind."

It took a lot of restraint not to flinch at that. Kirito bit his lip and held his arm. Right. Klein had friends— maybe they could survive with one more, but any higher… No, he couldn't take that risk, and there was no time to wait for non-beta players to adjust to SAO—

A hand rested on his shoulder, suddenly pulling him out of his panicked thoughts.

"Relax, will ya?" Klein said as he gave a reassuring squeeze, "You're shaking."

Kirito paused for a second, taking the time to calm his nerves and ease the building headache. Now wasn't the time to panic, and losing himself wouldn't help with any clear decisions. He was thankful that Klein patiently waited for him to gather himself.

He finally looked up, "I— I won't be able to protect all of you."

"And you don't have to," Klein stressed, "We can handle ourselves. After all, you spent hours giving me all those tips. I'm sure I can help."

Kirito grimaced, trying hard to ignore the ache in his head, "No, Klein— this is real! This… This isn't some kind of—"

Whatever words he wanted to say were gone as the pain in his head took over. There was a loud ringing in his ears, and he tried to cover them. At that moment, Kirito realized that something wasn't right— something was very, very wrong. His leg grew increasingly sore, and his usual drowsiness came crawling back.

No— no, no no—

He wasn't supposed to feel this pain—

He wasn't supposed to feel anything of this—

Kirito's breath hitched, and the world around him steadily faded out. The last thing he saw was Klein reaching for him and then—

* * *

**_._ **

**_.._ **

**_…_ **

**_REGISTERED ID CODE #7356 FOUND - INACTIVE CO-ADMINISTRATOR STATUS_ **

**_CHANGE TO PLAYER STATUS?_ **

**_-[YES]_ **

**_-NO_ **

**_-CANCEL_ **

**_CO-ADMINISTRATOR: KIRIGAYA KAZUTO WAS CHANGED TO PLAYER: KIRITO_ **

**_BEGIN MEMORY TRANSFER?_ **

**_-[YES]_ **

**_-NO_ **

**_-CANCEL_ **

**_INITIALIZING TRANSFER PLAYER: KIRITO TO UNIT: NARUSAKA KAZUTO_ **

**_ESTIMATED TIME REMAINING: Calculating…._ **

**_ESTIMATED TIME REMAINING: Calculating…._ **

**_ESTIMATED TIME REMAINING: ERROR - UNDETERMINED DUE TO LACK OF DATA_ **

**_PERMISSION TO INITIATE DATA COLLECTION?_ **

**_-[YES]_ **

**_-NO_ **

**_-CANCEL_ **

**_DATA COLLECTION ON PLAYER: KIRITO TO UNIT: NARUSAKA KAZUTO INITIATED_ **

**_SYSTEM DATA COLLABORATION AT... 1%_ **

**_ESTIMATED TIME REMAINING: *******_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAH- I didn't rewrite the whole tutorial because honestly, that's painful. Very painful.
> 
> Also, I'm still reeling over the fact that Kazuto's last name was Narusaka before he was adopted, because if you went with his naming sense ([Kiri]gaya Kazu[to]), his username would've been freaking-


	2. the wake up call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> late

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It hasn't even been a week yet, and I just want to post the second chapter already. I figured I should since this chapter's shorter. It's mainly because the next chapter after this is entirely new.

After an entire week since the announcement of the death game, things were chaotic. The beta players had been gone within the first few days, leaving the others to suffer in their wake. It was hard to level up when all the monsters were basically wiped out within hours before more could respawn. It gave Klein a hard time to find some sort of experience to gain a couple levels. It was only now that he realized what Kirito meant said when they needed to leave right then and there. At the very least, he managed to get in contact with all six of his friends and formed a strong party regardless.

Klein climbed up the stairs of an inn, and headed to the farthest room at the end of the hall. He let himself in with a quick knock on the door out of sheer habit. The room itself was small; simply decorated with the usual necessities for its cheap price. Heck, Klein was just glad he managed to get a room of two beds before the inn swallowed up by the other players.

He sighed as he plopped himself on the only available bed, frowning at the other one. The unconscious Kirito seemed all too still as he "slept" another day away.

It scared the living crap out of Klein when the boy suddenly collapsed. At first, he thought that Kirito passed out from a panic attack, all the signs were there— but right now, there was nothing right about this. He tried to wake Kirito after a few minutes, but gave up and searched for an inn for them to rest for a little while. It made Klein worry when those simple hours slowly turned into days, and Kirito didn't move an inch.

His friends were also worried about them both, even told Klein to take a break for himself when he could. Issin suggested that maybe Kirito wasn't well in the real world. It was the only plausible reason for anyone to be this inactive for such a long time. Klein definitely agreed with him.

One week was too long for any sense of comfort.

Klein shook his head to clear it, and resigned to wait things out— it was the only thing he could do at this point.

With a swipe of his hand, he opened his menu and began to sort the items in his storage. Time slipped by idly as he lost himself in the familiar routine. He almost missed the twitch from Kirito's hand when he finally dismissed his menu.

"Kirito…?"

._._._._._.

His vision was a blurry mess as he slowly woke up to a name. He blearily blinked away the drowsiness and saw a wooden ceiling. He didn't remember having a wooden ceiling in his room before. An oddly familiar yet not familiar face came into his view.

"Good morning…?" he asked as he tried to wake up, "Where… Is something wrong?"

"Something wrong?!" a voice said, "Kirito, I should be asking that question—"

His face clearly showed his confusion as he sat up, stretching his arms to help himself wake up more. Then he remembered that he was being addressed in an odd name.

"Kirito…?" he muttered as he wrecked his memory of where he heard that name before. He rubbed his eyes for a second before finally taking in the other person in the room. They were dressed kind of funny— almost as if this man had came from a familiar fantasy game or something. Shaking his head, he moved his hands as he spoke, "What time is it? Is Sugu up?"

The man blinked at him, as if he didn't understand what he said, "Sugu? Hold on, Kirito— "

He ignored the man as he look around the room with a frown, "Where…?" He didn't recognize this place at all. His room looked nothing like this. When he shifted to get swung a leg over the edge of the bed, he was startled when they both moved. He couldn't help staring at them with wide eyes.

What.

"O-oi— Kirito—" He was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders, "It's me, Klein!"

His confusion only grew as he focused his gaze at the man in front of him, "Klein…? I don't know a Klein."

The man nearly blanched, "You don't—"

Then his voice became serious, "Kirito— Listen. Right now, you're in a game— a virtual reality game called Sword Art Online. A week ago, all of the players got trapped in it —by Kayaba including me and you."

Sword Art Online?

Aki-nii-chan?

What did his game had to do with—

Everything suddenly came back like a train that rammed a tidal wave. The memories of the first day he logged back into the game felt like an ugly punch in his gut. The odd fog in Kirito's eyes slowly cleared. He suddenly blinked at Klein with an alarmed expression.

"I—I'm—" Kirito began, trying to escape Klein's grip, "I'm so sorry— I should've-"

"Calm down, Kirito— " Klein's concern only grew as Kirito's voice lowered, "Calm down. Take a few breaths, okay? In and out."

Kirito forced himself to do as he was told, taking in a couple breaths to calm himself. Vaguely, he thought about how ridiculous that was because it wasn't like this game avatar needed it— but it was a basic function of the human body.

So, he breathed.

Klein seemed to wait for him to settle down before speaking, "You okay?"

Kirito nodded.

Relief was clear on Klein's face as he sighed and released Kirito. The older man sat beside him on the bed and leaned back on his arms, "Whew! You scared me there. I thought I was gonna lose you for a second."

"Sorry," Kirito didn't look at him as he splurged on, "What happened?"

He could practically feel Klein's gaze for a moment.

"You collapsed in the alleyway, and I brought you to an inn. We're a sharing a room, by the way," Klein explained, "Did something happen to you in the real world? You haven't moved at all."

"…Maybe. It could've been my Nerve Gear or something," Kirito evaded (he was very well aware that Klein wasn't happy about that answer), "How long have I've been out?"

Klein hesitated a for a second, "…A week."

"A week?!" Kirito finally looked at him, "I've been out for a week?"

Before Klein could do anything, Kirito pushed himself out of the bed and stumbled to his feet, "I'm so behind!"

"Whoa! Wait, Kirito!" Klein managed to catch his arm before he hit the floor, "Check you're stats before running out that door."

Confused, he did as he was told, and opened his menu. Kirito stared at the numbers for a long moment. "I'm…. level four…?"

Klein laughed as he scratched the back of his head and lied, "I forgot that you were still in my party."

._._._._._._.

Koujirou Rinko sighed heavily as she finally sat at her desk, placing her store bought dinner beside her. She was tired, if not weary of the past few days. The hospital had almost reached capacity when the sudden influx of patients suddenly skyrocketed. The entire staff was at the edge of their rope trying to accommodate the closest victims of the death game.

When she first heard the news, she had a tiny hope she wouldn't see a certain boy as one of the victims.

But when she came into work the next day, that hope was crushed.

Rinko quietly powered up her laptop. It was hard to block out the boy's mother crying in her arms outside of his room. It was harder to go to work knowing that the same boy she saw on occasion wouldn't wake up from the game anytime soon. Of course, she would know.

She spent a few minutes on her laptop. She checked for emails and shifted through her incomplete research, before she noticed something. There was a familiar syncing icon circling around on the top toolbar.

She squinted at it.

She didn't remember starting one.

When she clicked on it, it only showed the device before it disappeared a split second later.

Yet, that split-second was enough for her to read it.

**[Syncing to: Aki's Hard Drive]**

"He didn't," she breathed in disbelief. In vain attempt to prove herself wrong, she double checked all the files she had open and paled.

She left Kirigaya Kazuto's medical file open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Rinko reaction: "Oh my gods - Kayaba, you did not just steal his medical file."
> 
> Okay but seriously, Eugeo and Kirito is making me cry so much. Also did you know that the VAs of Kirito, Eugeo, and Alice sang a song together? I didn't. The title is "Blazing the Future" if you wanna hear it.
> 
> Preview!
> 
> On the last week of November 2022, Kirito wedged a chair under the door handle.


	3. the anneal blade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> stuck like glue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said that there would be added scenes and changes to the story?
> 
> Yeah.

On the last week of November 2022, Kirito wedged a chair under the door handle.

He paused for a moment, wondering if it would actually work like it did in movies. Then again, movies were just fantasies brought to life half the time and this was a game, not IRL. Huffing, Kirito left the chair at the door. If it didn't work, there was always a back-up plan: run.

Kirito had a very good reason for this.

Over the week he had been awake, both Klein and his friends helped him level up, but not as much as he liked. It wasn't that he was ungrateful for their assistance— they were doing just fine for a beginner's group.

It would be a lie to say that he was comfortable with them. He did enjoy working with them as a party, and their handling with [Switching] in and out of positions had gotten better and better over days. Yet, despite their improvements, it didn't feel enough. Not to Kirito, at least.

He didn't have time to wait for them.

Kirito walked over to the window and opened it. He peeked his head out to check around the place, making sure that it was crowded other players and NPCs. With a quiet nod to himself, he opened his menu and hovered over Klein's name in the party list. It almost made Kirito frown over the fact that his friend's list was a good handful of people. It almost scared him to be acquainted with this many that were kind— afraid of their situation, but kind and determined despite it all.

He viciously shook his head and tapped the party list.

**Leave the party?**

**-Yes**

**-No**

His hand froze over the notification. Kirito had thought long and hard about this. He decided to break it off and continue on his own. He knew that was what he had to do. This whole game was his fault, so he had to pay for it without getting others involved.

He settled on that— but…

He shook his head vigorously and tapped [Yes] before he could regret it. He dismissed his menu with a flick of his hand and swung himself out the window. He landed clumsily, scrambling a few steps before taking off in a full sprint. By now, he was pretty sure that Klein and his friends already got the notification and he certainly couldn't waste anytime getting awa—

Kirito turned a corner and ran right into another player. He stumbled back with an apology and a hand helped him stay upright.

"No problem!"

He froze, staring at the hand that gripped his arm. Slowly, he looked up, trailing the hand to the arm, and to the face. Kirito bit his lip to stop a stream of colorful curses.

Klein grinned at him, "Glad I caught you before you ran away."

Kirito laughed nervously, "…Glad I ran into you before I ran away."

._._._._._.

Whatever plan Kirito had beforehand, he completely and utterly bashed a tiny part of it into pieces.

Getting out of the Town of Beginnings? Check.

Grind a few monsters while on the way to Horunka Village? Check.

Gain at least two levels? Check.

Arrive at slightly crowded Horunka Village whole? Double check.

"Wow, this place is pretty peaceful compared to the Town of Beginnings."

Come alone? Unchecked.

Kirito held his elbows, arms lightly crossed, as he tried very, very hard not to sigh at Klein.

"Why did you have to come with me?"

Klein placed a hand on his hip and looked at him as if the answer was obvious, "Sticking with you for a little bit."

"I'm not even partied with you right now."

"I'm looking out for a friend!"

"What about your other friends?" Kirito highly doubted that Klein up and left without saying a word to them, but he just had to ask.

"Eh, they'll be fine. I just told them that we're taking a trip to the next town—and they're your friends, too, Kirito."

"You make it sound like I'm coming back with you."

"You're not?"

Kirito dropped his arms and strode into the town, "Come on, it's almost night time."

They took a short moment to stop into a weapons shop. Klein went ahead and bough himself new and better equipment for himself and a few of his friends. Kirito upgraded his own gear, but he already knew that these weren't going to last for very long if he wanted to go to slightly dangerous areas to level up more. And he would have to make do with his current Small Sword for just a few more hours.

He was so far behind. It pained him to admit that he's practically dead in the water if he didn't do anything now.

There were other players roaming around the village, but none of them seemed to have the same goal as them. As Klein looked for an inn to stay the night, Kirito looked for something else.

"Klein, I'm grabbing a solo quest."

"Huh? What— Oi— Kirito!"

He made a beeline to a house deeper into the village and walked in with a polite knock. Vaguely, he heard Klein protested him going ahead, but he ignored him. In the kitchen, there was an NPC stirring a pot, "Good evening, traveling swordsman."

At those words, Kirito thanked every deity that the quest he aimed for made it to the death game.

(And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop himself from closing his eyes against the realistic coughs in the back. He would be lying if he said that it didn't dredge up memories.)

._._._._._._.

Klein was worried about Kirito.

He had a good reason, too.

Before that damn welcome tutorial, Kirito seemed like a very capable player—a tad shy, clearly an introvert, but very much independent. Of course, it was a given when he admitted to being a beta tester.

Yet—

The second he saw Kirito's real appearance, Klein felt his heart drop (whether it was out of fear or dread, he didn't know). He was so small, so thin, and so freaking pale— any paler and Klein could've sworn that the other was close to death's door already.

It was a jarring thought.

In the time it took for Kirito to wake up was one of the most nerve wrenching things he ever had to experience. The moment that he woke up, Klein was so relieved, but still scared at the same time. The disorientation that Kirito showed for a few minutes tended to come back at random moments. Klein could count on one hand how many times Kirito asked him who he was in the morning - but that was still not a good sign.

Even Klein's friends were worried. Harry One did his best to keep Kirito's attention in some sort of word game - never mind that he kept losing to the boy. Issin and Daynumm were good at roping Kirito into their conversations - even though Kirito, himself, barely said more than a few words at a time. Dale made sure that Kirito ate, and always had some snack stored away just in case (Kirito seemed to enjoy the gesture more than he would let on). Kunimittz kept a watchful eye on Kirito. Somehow and someway, it was really easy to lose sight of Kirito when no one looked.

Though it was extremely difficult, Klein sprouted so many excuses to keep Kirito from leaving. Some were reasonable ("Kirito, you blanked out for a second," Klein would state). Some were ridiculous ("Oi— you can't just leave Dale hanging! Take the bread!" Klein would encourage).

But he could never stop Kirito from joining every battle. It was scary to see a small frail teen carrying a sword that looked half of his weight, but he fought with everything he had. He always appeared at anyone's side to aid in battle, but the second they were in a safe zone, he held everyone around him at a wide berth.

It was only then that Klein began to realize that Kirito was scared— and it wasn't because of the death game.

Kirito was scared of others.

In fact, Klein was surprised that it took him a week to finally leave his party.

Of course, Klein couldn't let him run off on his own, so he decided to go with Kirito instead. Not partied— but at least with him. He wasn't surprised to learn that Kirito just wanted to go on little quest.

Sort of.

"To your left!"

Klein swirled on his heel and swung his blade. The Little Nepenthes shattered into tiny polygons from the attack, but another replaced it. At least, this Nepenthes had a blooming flower on its head — just the one that Kirito needed!

Klein clicked his tongue, "Tch! Finally! How many do you need, Kirito?!"

Kirito appeared at his side, aiding him as they both struck the Nepenthes, "Just this one!"

The Little Nepenthes gave an ugly wail as it smacked its vines at them. As they split to dodge, Klein cursed. They spent almost a good amount of the evening trying to hunt for this damn flowered Nepenthes, and it did help that there were other players trying to complete the same quest nearby.

But—

He had to admit, these monsters were anything _but_ "little". They were ugly plant things that were taller than him! Of course, Kirito was _tiny_ compared to those things.

Maybe that was one of the reasons why Klein tried very hard not to let his panic get to him.

"Kirito!" he called out. He was relieved to see that the boy was generally fine. Gritting his teeth in a frustrated scowl— but fine.

"One more attack!" Kirito bit out, "Hit it one more time and I'll end it!"

With a quick nod, Klein shifted into a pose. It still felt a bit strange for the system to take control of his actions as the skill activated. He allowed his body to surge forward with a powerful strike, cutting the Little Nepenthes's vines. It screeched as it was completely disarmed.

Klein moved out of the way, turning on his heel, "Go get 'im, Kirito!"

With a battle cry, Kirito followed through with a sword skill of his own. His blade left a blazing red trail as he practically sliced the monster in half. Klein let out a whoop as their target monster shattered into tiny polygons.

He swung an arm around Kirito's shoulders, "Nice one!"

Kirito flashed a brief smile before he promptly ducked out of the hold, "I got the [Little Nepenthes's Ovule]. We should head back before more respawn."

Unfazed by Kirito's casual dismissal, Klein hefted his sword over his shoulder. He knew better by now that the boy was just a tad embarrassed.

"Uwaahh, finally! Fighting all those monsters worked up an appetite," he said instead, "Wanna grab a bite at the inn?"

Kirito shrugged as he led the way back, "Only if you're paying."

._._._._._.

Klein turned in for bed after paying for dinner.

Kirito didn't.

Instead, he snuck out of the inn and headed back into the house at the far back. To be honest, he was a little apprehensive about going there, but he needed the reward if he wanted to level up as quickly as possible. He had told Klein that he'd complete the quest the next morning, and technically speaking, it was the next morning. He just dozed off for a few hours and slipped out a few minutes after midnight.

He said nothing as he handed over the [Little Nepenthes's Ovule] to the NPC. Her face lit up and she launched into a long monologue of gratitude, even as she prepared the ovule in the pot. Kirito quietly sat at a chair, watching as his quest log updated at the side. He felt his apprehension climb a little when he heard the faint coughs yet again. It was a battle to keep himself grounded.

In the next minute, the mother handed over a long sword, thanking him yet again. He recognized it the second he laid his eyes on it. The red scabbard was of a simple design - not one that was very noticeable, but the whole blade gave off a different feeling from the dull starting equipment.

"Thank you," Kirito smiled as he took the sword in his hands. It certainly felt different from the Small Sword he had equipped. The [Anneal Blade] was a familiar weight, and it was nice to have it again. Kirito had fought hundreds of battles in the Beta with it before.

As the quest completion notification flashed on the log, adding the bonus EXP points, Kirito moved to leave and cringed. His leg began to ache sometime during the battle, and he couldn't figure out why. Somehow, the pain had finally built up to stab at him.

He briefly considered staying a little longer to wait it out, but he needed to get back to the inn. Klein would notice that he left without saying anything. Kirito forced himself to get up and limped to the front door, only to find it locked. He tugged at the handle to see if it would give, but a notification popped up instead.

**Locked.**

**Quest is still in progress.**

**Quest Completion is required to unlock.**

**[o]**

Kirito stared at it.

But… didn't he finish it?

He proceeded to stare at the quest log that clearly said: **[Quest Completed!]**

He hissed a terrible curse and dismissed the notification, "First time I'm somewhat on my own and it _had_ to glitch?"

Instinctively, he opened his menu and closed it a second later. He didn't have the permissions to check for any bugs, nor did he have any immediate access to a control panel.

Kirito pressed his lips together and looked at the windows, vaguely wondering if he could probably climb out. It only took two seconds to make that decision, and two minutes to give up on opening the window. It wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tried to pull and the same notification showed up over and over again.

Bluntly put, he was stuck.

Absolutely stuck.

Resigned, he stumbled back into the chair. He turned to the mother at the stove, who busied herself at the pot.

It reminded him of home.

His own mother would stand in front of a pot, stirring the miso soup she always made time for (even though she was barely home because of work). And Suguha would be by her side to help.

"Would you like to see my daughter?" the mother's voice startled Kirito.

"Eh?" He glanced at the steaming, wooden cup in her hands, "Uhh…"

"Come, I'm sure she will be glad to see you." With that, she didn't wait to see if he would follow her to a closed door.

Kirito sat there for a moment, blinking after the NPC. This… didn't happen in the beta version. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he should probably leave, but at the same time, he felt otherwise. When the mother opened the door to her daughter's room and gestured for him to come, Kirito had no choice but to follow.

The bedroom was small, and it didn't hold much; just the barest minimum of a tiny dresser, a stool, and a bed.

Kirito froze.

The little girl in the bed looked around seven, maybe eight years old. Under the moonlight, her skin was as pale as his, and she was far too bony to be healthy. When she looked to her mother, then at him with a faint smile, Kirito nearly backed out of the room.

The only thing that grounded him was the NPC cursor attached to the girl.

**[Agatha]**

The girl looked eerily like him: pitch black hair, pale skin and dark eyes stared at him questionably. Suddenly, Kirito was glad he didn't dare to wait until sunrise. He didn't want Klein around to see this.

And when the girl began to cough into her hand, Kirito rushed to her side in vain attempt to ease her pain.

Because he knew.

Kirito knew that this was a memory _of_ him.

The [Anneal Blade] never felt so damn heavy in his inventory.

._._._._._.

_Kazuto didn't feel okay. He really didn't._

_His throat itched, and honestly, he was not ready for another coughing fit._

_"Are you okay, Kazuto-kun?" Rinko-nee had a look of concern._

_He wanted to say no, but he didn't. Instead, he quietly smiled at Rinko-nee, "I'm okay."_

_The second he lied, he coughed. It tore at his throat, and his chest felt like it was about to burst._ _Rinko-nee rubbed a soothing hand on his back, but his coughs just wouldn't stop._

_What was meant to be a few moments, felt like hours to Kazuto by the time his cough subsided. When he looked up, Rinko-nee was replaced by someone else. A young man stood in her place. His light brown hair was shorter than most, and his eyes were a mixed between confused and mildly frightened._

_He quickly handed a glass of water to Kazuto, who took it with shaky hands and sipped at it._

_"Don't worry, Rinko-kun stepped out to get a doctor," the man assured him, "She... she'll be fast."_

_He honestly looked like he didn't know what to do with himself now that he had Kazuto's full attention. Obviously, this man knew nothing about kids._

_It was kind of funny to watch him awkwardly hover his hands around Kazuto._

_"I'm, uh..." he paused for a moment, and Kazuto stared at him (or rather, he tried not to laugh because, wow, this was awkward), "I'm Kayaba Akihiko... a friend of Rinko-kun. Sort of- but you can trust me."_

_Kazuto cleared his throat, and grabbed the hovered hand and smiled, "Thanks."_

_"You're welcome," Akihiko smiled awkwardly back._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Kayaba had like- zero experience with kids to be honest. Also, yay! Kirito has friends! Which actually means, I'll be adding things that happened in Vol. 8 and some other things from Progressive. This is going to be more fleshed out than it was before, so heads up for that.
> 
> Preview!
> 
> "Hey, Klein - I'm going to the boss meeting. Are... are you coming?" Kirito asked, smearing a nice helping of cream on the cheap black bread.
> 
> "Oh, totally, absolutely," Klein answered without missing a beat, "Someone's gotta make sure you don't recklessly throw yourself at trouble."
> 
> Kirito did not pout - he didn't!
> 
> "I have no idea what you're talking about."
> 
> Klein pointedly looked at him.
> 
> Kirito pointedly looked at the other way.


End file.
